It's in the Blood
by Gryffindorkandproud
Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy just wanted to finish out their time at Hogwarts. But something will happen to shatter their worlds as they know it. HarryDraco, Magical Creatures, rated M for later chapters.
1. Inheritance

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter, but it would be sweet if I did.**

**Chapter 1: Coming of Age**

Draco Malfoy woke up on June 5th with a start. As his dorm mates slept on he could feel his body singing. He looked at the clock and saw that it was just after midnight, and then got out of bed knowing that there would be no more sleeping for him that night. He walked into the common room and sat down and he saw his eagle owl Arcturus standing there with a note on his leg. Draco held out his arm, and his owl flew across the room to land on his shoulder. He took the note off of his owl's leg and opened it.

_Draco,_

_If you are reading this then you have come into your inheritance. I have not told you of it before because it might have skipped you over. My son, you are not completely human, there is Veela blood in our family and some of it has passed on to you. Your Mother and I will be down to the school tomorrow to more fully explain what this will mean in your future. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow._

_Lucius_

Draco stared at the note dumbfounded. He was a Veela. How could this be? He looked at himself and noticed that his body had changed subtly. His skin was just as pale as before, but now it seemed to emit a soft glow. His hair seemed to have grown a few inches overnight and now it framed his face perfectly. Thinking about his face he rushed into the bathroom wondering what changes had happened, he saw much of the same, a proud jaw line, his eyes were depthless pools of sliver. His teeth, although they had always been well cared for, looked like pearls. His nose seemed much more sensitive as well, he could smell dozens of new scents, many of them interesting some of them completely disgusting. He also caught just a tiny whiff of, he couldn't think of how to describe it except for, perfection. He could not find that smell in any of the boys dormitories in the dungeon, and it didn't seem like it was coming from the girls dormitories so for now he decided, it would remain a mystery. He went back to the common room to wait for morning and an explanation from his father.

As soon as breakfast started to be served, he went into the great hall, and saw his parents at the high table talking to Dumbledore. His mother noticed him and motioned for him to join them. He walked up to the high table and didn't notice that every student who was already seated followed him with their eyes. When he reached the high table his mother smiled and hugged him in greeting.

"Draco my darling, come we will be eating in the small dining room today." She took her sons arm and walked behind the staff table and out of the hall.

Inside was a small table set for just the three of them. The Malfoy family sat down and immediately food appeared on the plates in front of them. Before beginning to eat, Lucius looked to Draco who was clearly waiting for some answers.

"I take it you got my note."

"Yes Father."

Narcissa beamed at her son. "Oh I knew that you were going to come into your inheritance. I could tell the moment that you were born."

"And what exactly does this inheritance entail," he asked.

"Well son, your first and foremost duty right now is to begin searching for your mate." Lucius told his son, "After you locate your mate you must begin the courtship and convince said mate to bond with you. Now Draco I want you to know that your mate can be male or female, and once you find your mate your life becomes tied with theirs. Whoever your mate is will have the utmost support of the Malfoy Family." He then sighed regrettably, "I only wish that your birthday could have been earlier, now you might have to wait the entire summer to find your mate."

Draco looked puzzled, "Why would it matter if it has to wait until next term Father?"

"You'll see Draco, You'll see. Now I suggest you eat and then go see if your mate presents themselves to you."

The rest of the meal passed in a comfortable silence. And when they were all finished eating, Lucius and Narcissa stood up and walked to the door.

"Good luck son, we shall see you at the manor tomorrow evening."

Without another word, Draco's parents walked out of the room and left Hogwarts only stopping just briefly to look out at the students eating breakfast wondering if one of them would become a new member of their family.

Draco walked out of the smaller dining room and headed towards the Slyherin table once again getting a faint whiff of perfection, but when he tried to locate it, it was gone. Sighing in frustration, Draco sat between Blaise and Pansy. Pansy leaned against him but when he turned his head to say good morning to her he smelled a fairly nauseating odor and had to turn his head towards Blaise who luckily smelled much better.

"Why were your parents here mate?"

"They came to tell me about my inheritance," Draco stated simply.

Blaise looked confused, "What do you mean wizards come into their full inheritance at age 11."

Draco nodded, "Yes, and veela come into their inheritance at age 16 apparently."

Blaise's eyes popped open, "You're a Veela!" Heads all over the great hall turned and stared at Blaise, then as people looked to see who he was talking to, many people went slack jawed. Shouts began to be heard from all over the hall.

"I'm a shoo-in for head boy next year!" "England is interested in drafting me for the quidditch team next year!" "I invented the cure for acne"

Draco shook his head angrily and stormed out of the hall. A hundred pairs of eyes followed him.

He headed back to the Slytherin common room and began packing waiting for his year mates to return, to see who his 'mate' was, because he was absolutely sure that his mate was a Slytherin. One by one his fellow snakes came back into the common room, he looked at them all intensely trying to see which was his mate, but he didn't feel anything. Eventually he got fed up and went to begin packing.

At dinner that night Draco walked into the great hall and caught another whiff of perfection, he was beginning to realize that the smell he was smelling had to be his mate. But the smell was not coming from the Slytherin table, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't coming from the Ravenclaw table either. _Damn, that means its either a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, I don't know which is worse._ He sat down to his dinner and mused about what he was going to do about that. He decided that he would wait until he could talk with his parents about the problem, and find out if there was a way to find a more suitable mate.

The next day as the students boarded the Hogwarts Express, Draco decided that this would be a good time to try and find out who his 'mate' was. After the train left the station, Draco left the compartment and walked down the length of the train, the smell seemed to get stronger the closer he got to the back of the train. Finally at the last compartment he could tell that his mate was in there. He peeked in the window and froze, this was Potter's compartment. His mate could be a mudblood or, even Potter. He stalked away and went back to his compartment, _wait until father hears of this. _

Harry got to at his aunt and uncles and settled in like usual. Dudley was on another diet, and they were starving Harry, once again his friends had come to his aide and sent him care packages of food, and so he spent most of his time locked in his room. The Dursleys' didn't care. As long as he stayed out of their way they were completely happy to just ignore him. The summer progressed until the week before his birthday, when he began to feel sick all the time. He thought that it could be depression from the loss of Sirius, but he didn't understand why this would make him feel physically sick. The feeling got worse as it got closer to his 16th birthday. The night before, it got so bad that he couldn't eat, so at 7 he closed his eyes and forced himself to fall asleep. At a quarter to midnight he woke up and it felt like his entire body was on fire. His back was felt like it was about to rip open. His face felt like it was made of wax and was being reformed. He was forcibly reminded of when Ron and he had taken polyjuice potion. For fifteen minutes, his entire body was in agony. And then all of the sudden the pain was gone. Harry stumbled into the bathroom and walked over to the mirror. He almost screamed out when he realized what he was seeing. His face was, a little less human. His face had become graceful, his ears came to a very slight point, his hair was longer, and it reached halfway down his back. The most noticeable change was the fact that he had wings; they were thin and transparent, and almost as tall as he was. He ran back into his bedroom and dug in his trunk and brought out the standard book of spells, and looked up a glamour spell, he would cast it as soon as he stepped on to platform nine and three quarters, and he would not take it off until Hermione could explain all this to him. For the rest of the summer he stayed in his room, not wanting to be called a freak for the changes that his body had gone through. He denied numerous invitations to visit the Weasleys saying that he had too much homework to get caught up on. He sent Hedwig with a letter to Hermione communicating a desperate need to talk to which she responded:

_Harry,_

_What is going on? Why don't you come to the Weasleys house if you want to talk to me? I came here to spend time with you and Ron. PLEASE come. Ron and I are horribly worried about you. If you won't come, we could meet in Diagon Alley, the Weasleys and I are going next week to pick up our school supplies. Oh say you'll be there. Write back and let me know._

_Love from,_

_Hermione_

_P.S. Ron says 'hi'_

Harry grinned as he read the post script. He could see Ron in his minds eye hovering over Hermione as she wrote to him begging her to tell him that he said 'hi,' nothing else, just 'hi.' He then turned his mind back towards Diagon Alley. He had to go and get his supplies for 6th year. He decided that he would meet them there under his invisibility cloak, and stay there until it was time to return to school. He was looking forward to seeing them, but a lingering fear had entered the back of his mind, _What if Hermione doesn't know what to do…_

**The next Friday**

Harry had sent an owl ahead to Tom telling him that he wanted to have room eleven for the two weeks before school began. Tom had readily agreed and had sent back the message:

_Of course you can have room eleven Mister Potter! And I won't be taking any money for it either. It's the least I can do. I look forward to seeing you soon._

Harry smiled and began to pack.

He walked into the Leaky Cauldron under his cloak, and snuck right up to his room for the next two weeks, having a very close encounter when his wings brushed up against a warlock having a pint. He got into his room and shut the door before taking off his invisibility cloak. He walked to the mirror and looked into it. His new reflection stared back.

"You have really filled out over the years my dear, and I must say the wings are a nice touch," Croaked his mirror.

Harry glared at the mirror and snapped, "Shut up about my wings thank you very much." Before flopping down on the bed and wincing when his wings got stuck underneath him. _These damn wings, _he thought to himself, _always getting in the bloody way and completely useless. _Even as he thought that, he knew it wasn't true. A few days after the change he had tried to get his wings to move and was surprised when he found himself two feet off the ground. He was so surprised that he forgot to keep his wings moving and fell in a heap on the floor.

Over the two weeks his body had gone through a couple of other changes, he no longer needed his glasses, and he had grown 2 inches taller and more slender. His skin seemed to have acquired a slight tan, and it made his eyes sparkle. He was pleased with the height, and the muscles that just looked a little bit better now that he was skinnier, but there was the hair and the ears and those damn wings. He had sent Hermione a note telling her that he would be in the Leaky Cauldron when they got there and asked her to come up and see him, but to _please_ come alone.

Two hours after he arrived, he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

Hermione's voice answered, "Who else would it be Harry? Open the door."

"Are you alone?"

There was a pause and then she answered, "No Ron is with me."

"I don't want to see him yet."

Ron's voice answered sounding hurt, "Harry, I'm your best mate. I want to help you. Please don't shut me out."

Harry shook his head, he should have known that this was going to happen. If a Weasley was anything, they were loyal. He closed the curtains and dimmed the lights, maybe they wouldn't notice right away and he could explain things before they saw him. "The doors unlocked," he called, "You can come in."

The door opened and his two best friends walked in looking concerned and worried. "What's up mate?" Ron asked, "Why is it so dark in here? Want me to open the curtains?  
He moved towards them to be stopped by Harry's voice.

"Please don't open them yet, I want to talk to you first."

"Ok Harry, you know that you can tell us anything," said Hermione.

"Alright, but please don't interrupt me or I might not be able to go on." He paused and waited for them to nod their heads before beginning to tell the story of what had happened to him on his birthday. Like usual they were the perfect audience, gasping on cue and looking more and more horrified as he described his change. The longer he talked, the harder it got, _would they think he was a freak now? Would they abandon him?_

When he finished speaking, there was a moments pause and then Hermione stood up and said "Let us see you Harry."

Harry stood up and opened the curtains. Ron and Hermione gasped not believing how beautiful Harry had become. Harry took the gasp in the wrong way and fell to his knees. _They do think I'm a freak. _Suddenly he was being embraced by his two best friends, and he began to cry, finally letting go of the feelings that he had been storing inside for the past two weeks. When he had calmed down, he looked at his friends and found them staring at him. "What?" he asked, "What is it?"

Hermione looked at him with her eyes shining with tears. "Harry, you're beautiful."

Harry felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders, "You don't think I'm a freak?"

Smiling through her tears she shook her head and said, "Oh you stupid prat, is that what you thought? That we would think that you were a freak? Boys are so stupid sometimes."

Harry and Ron both laughed at that and then Harry asked, "Do you know what I am 'Mione?"

"I've got a couple of ideas the most realistic one is that you have some maillochefée blood because of your wings. It used to be common for wizarding families to breed themselves with magical creatures like Veela, Elves, engels, or maillochefée. There are a couple of others at Hogwarts with magical creature blood in them still, but they are usually from the older pure blooded families. It is not a bad thing at all Harry, I promise."

Harry felt much better after hearing what Hermione had to say, but he still had a problem, "I can't walk around like this 'Mione, is there a way that I can hide my wings at least?"

Hermione considered this for a few moments and then darted out of the room. After a few moments she returned carrying a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. _She flipped through the pages until she found the section on maillochefée. She skimmed the pages and then looked up at Harry. "Yup, its definitely maillochefée blood that you have, the book says that if you want to hide your wings all you have to do is focus on bringing them back into your body and they will disappear, can only hide them for ten hours a day, the rest of the time you will have to keep them out." She read on some more, "Oh Harry, this is so amazing, in addition to being able to fly, you have some natural healing abilities and your magic should be even stronger. I can't wait to see all the new things you can do when we get back to school!"

Harry smiled and shook his head, of course Hermione would be excited about this, he only hoped that he did not become too much of a test subject this year. He concentrated for a moment, and then the wings vanished. He sighed with relief. "Shall we go shopping?"

"Oh yes but Harry, you look so different even without the wings. We had better try and avoid people we know for right now. Maybe you should wear the invisibility cloak?" Hermione sounded a little bit nervous.

Ron shrugged, "We just won't let people get too close to him for right now, Harry needs to get some sun, isn't that right mate?"

Harry smiled, "Yeah I'd like that."

After looking at his clothing, which he had crudely cut to make room for his wings, Hermione decided that they should also stop atBarbary and Keddle's to find him some new clothes that would accommodate the new wings. And so they were off to do some shopping.

Draco was going crazy. He was filled with a need to find his mate and be with them so badly that he was very close to getting on his broom and flying to the Weasley's house to see if one of them were his mate. His parents tried to keep him occupied, but his mind was only on one thing. The closer it got to when school started, the more time Draco spent and Diagon Alley, deciding that this was the most likely place to run into his future mate when they came to shop for their school supplies. Every day Draco would floo to the Leaky Cauldron and spend the day wandering around the shops hoping for a scent of perfection to float by.

Four days before he was scheduled to board the Hogwarts Express he caught a whiff. There were so many people here that all of the scents were getting confused and he was developing quite a headache. He looked into shop windows looking for a glimpse of red hair, in hopes that he could narrow the list of possible mates down, and had finally located one of the Weasleys' in Barbary and Keddle's. He couldn't understand what A weasel would be doing in a shop like that, he certainly couldn't afford to buy any of the clothes. Then he saw Granger and someone else walk up to Ron, he didn't recognize the newcomer, but he was gorgeous, tall and slender, with long black hair. He wondered who this person was and why they were hanging out with Potter's friends, then he looked around trying to spot Potter and didn't see him anywhere, then he looked more closely at the strangers face, and gasped. The stranger was Potter! He looked different, as if all of his flaws had been erased, his face had been refined. Draco was determined to find out if one of them was his mate and so he snuck inside and tried to get closer to them.

The closer he got the stronger the smell was. _Damn, it is one of those three, I hope to the Gods that it's not Granger; I think father would kill me._ Harry and Hermione walked away again and Draco snuck closer to Ron, but the closer he got the more sure he was that it wasn't Weasley. That left two. He looked around the store and could see Hermione helping Harry pick out some clothes. Draco edged forward as Harry walked off into the changing room. He got close to Hermione, and realized that it was not her either. He breathed a sigh of release, and then his breath caught in his chest. _His mate was Harry Potter._ His enemy for five years was the one he was destined to spend the rest of his life with. _Gods, why do you hate me?_ After he had calmed down, he snuck back out of the store, went back to the leaky cauldron, and flooed home. His father would know what to do about this… he hoped.

His father kept him at the Manor for the rest of the vacation, not wanting Draco to do something stupid and jeopardize his chances with Potter. At the moment Lucius couldn't decide what to do. Once the Dark Lord discovered that Potter was Draco's mate, he would demand that they use Draco to deliver Harry into the Dark Lord's clutches. If he allowed that to happen, when Voldemort killed Harry, Draco would die as well because when a Veela's mate died, so too did the Veela. If he allowed Draco and Harry to bond, he would have to protect him which meant he would have to turn to the light. There was the other option, but Draco would never forgive him, and Lucius didn't know if he could be as heartless as his father was. The Malfoy Lord had a lot to consider.

**A/N: Ok so this is the first fan fic I have ever written, please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Back To Hogwarts

**A/N Once again, just so you all know, I dont own Harry Potter, but it would be sweet if I did...**

**Chapter 2: Back to Hogwarts**

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys woke up early on September 1st. The world seemed to go into hyper drive, and there was only 2 hours until the train left for Hogwarts.

_Hermione and Ginny were running around their room trying to find the last of their belongings._

An hour and a half;

_Mrs. Weasley could be heard from Diagon Alley as she shrieked about how little time they had. _Harry after hearing from Hermione that the old magical families used to breed with magical creatures wondered if the Prewetts had bred with a banshee at some point.

One hour left;

_Ron tripped while taking his trunk downstairs, Harry grabbed on to his shirt to stop him from falling but both boys' trunks fell crashed down the stairs bursting open and spreading their stuff everywhere. _

Forty-five minutes;

_Seeing Harry and Ron trying to separate their things and repack their trunks, Molly shrieked about wasting time, and waved her wand causing all of the clothes and books on the floor to fly into one of the trunks. Arthur walked in from the street where he had a car waiting. Seeing the chaos he quickly took control of the situation, he ordered his wife a strong cup of tea (and a shot of firewhisky), divided the two boys belongings, and repacked the boys' trunks. _

Thirty minutes to go;

_Mr. Weasley shepherded the four students out to the car, and then went back for a nearly hysterical Mrs. Weasley. The ministry car made the trip to Kings Cross in 15 minutes._

Crunch time;

_The ministry driver helped them find trolleys for the students trunks, and then touched his fingers to his head in respect for Mr. Weasley and drove away. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys rushed through the crowds. Mr. Weasley took out his wand and cast a small level muggle repelling charm so none of the muggles would notice the wizards rush to the barrier and pass through. Mr. Weasley was the last to enter the platform and he removed the charm before leaning casually against the divider and passing through. _

Harry and Co. were already boarding the train. Mr. Weasley joined his wife and waved at their children as the train pulled away, wondering what new dangers lie in store for them this year.

Once the train pulled away from the station Ron and Hermione walked off towards the Prefects compartment while Harry and Ginny headed the other way in search of Neville and Luna. The found them in the last compartment and sat down to join them.

The four of them began to talk about their summers; Neville had apparently had Luna over to the Longbottom Manor for part of the summer holidays. Harry and Ginny caught each others eyes and grinned. After they had finished talking about their summers, Harry and Neville started a game of exploding snap while Luna absent mindedly flipped through the latest edition of the Quibbler. Ginny was merely content to watch Harry as he and Neville played.

\Flashback//

_After Ron and Hermione had assured Harry that he was not a freak, they convinced him to tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about his inheritance. The next night, the family had their dinner in one of the private parlors. At the end of the meal Harry stood up and told them what had happened on his 16th birthday, he then took of the glamour ring that he had bought in the Alley, and allowed his wings to be seen. _

_Molly Weasley took one look at the beautiful creature in front of her, and then she was on her feet and giving Harry the most back breaking hug he had ever received from the woman to date. _

_The entire family sat up late into the night talking about what this would mean for the rest of Harry's time at Hogwarts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided that for now it would be best for Harry to keep the glamour in place. They told Harry that as soon as he got to Hogwarts he was to go straight to Dumbledore about this. They then made their children swear that they would tell no one about Harry's newest 'secret'. All three nodded. _

_That night after Hermione fell asleep, Ginny Weasley sat up thinking. She had always had a crush on Harry, and she had tried to date other boys to make her forget about him, but it had never worked. Now that she saw The-Boy-Who-Lived-Who-Now-Was-Part-_** _Maillochefée-and-Even-More-Bloody-Gorgeous-Then-Before she knew that she could not rest until said boy was hers. As the rest of the Weasleys slept she started planning._**

**\End Flashback// **

**Draco sat in his compartment on the train with his 'followers.' Pansy was still trying to get close to him, and he was trying not to vomit at the sight of her. Draco had seen his mate and now he would be happy with none but him. At first Draco had been dead set against Potter being his mate, but the more he thought about him the stronger his need became. **

**Over the summer his father had taught him many things about his inheritance. How to control the allure, how to release his wings, and many other powers that Veela had. Veela, for example, had the power to become invisible without cloaks. Needing to get away from Parkinson, he excused himself and decided to do a little spying. Once he was out of sight of the compartment he concentrated about not being noticed. In actuality, Veela did not become invisible, they just became unnoticed. Once the anti-allure spell was in place, Draco walked down the train looking for his future mate. **

**He found him sitting with his friends in the last compartment, playing a game of exploding snap with Longbottom. Draco's heart melted a little at the joy he saw on Harry's face. Then he noticed the Weasley girl staring at Harry. Anger began to course through his body at the way the girl was staring._ Harry was _his_ mate! Who did she think she was, looking at him like that?_ He was about to barge in to the compartment and start yelling when he was knocked over. Unnoticed by Draco, Ron and Hermione had come to sit with their friends. Ron walked up to the door and ran into something solid. Fortunately for Draco, Ron's yell of surprise masked the thud that he made when he hit the ground. Draco knew that he shouldn't be discovered this way by his mate and so he jumped to his feet dashed around Ron and Hermione and fled back to his compartment.**

**Jerked out of their concentration by Ron's yell, Neville knocked the card tower over and it sprayed both boys with ink. Harry stood up, took off his ink covered glasses, rushed out of the compartment to see what was wrong. He found Hermione helping a very confused Ron to his feet. They walked back into the compartment and Harry and Neville cast cleaning charms on themselves. Then they listened to Ron as he swore that he ran into someone who was standing in front of their compartment. He continued to rant for about five minutes until Dean and Seamus arrived at the door. They exchanged greetings with everyone and then Dean looked at Harry curiously. "Where's your glasses Harry?"**

**Harry only just then realized that he had not bothered to clean of his glasses and put them back on. They were now just a prop of course since Harry's vision had become perfect, but he would have to be more careful then that if he wanted his secret to remain that way. He hurriedly took out his wand, cleaned his glasses and put them back on. There was an awkward silence for a while as they all looked at Harry, and then Hermione came to his rescue.**

**"So Dean, Seamus, how was your summer?"**

The next half hour was spent listening to the two talk about what they did during the summer. They had spent most of it together. It was not widely known, but Dean and Seamus were a couple. Homosexuality was very much accepted in the wizarding world, but Dean's family were muggles, and they could not accept that their oldest son was gay.

The rest of the train ride passed calmly, with talk of more DA meetings this year, and wondering who would be the newest DADA professor. Dean still had hopes for a Vampire. When the bell rang signaling that they were around ten minutes from Hogwarts, Everyone began to change into their robes. Ron and Hermione walked back to the front of the train, leaving Crookshanks and Pig with Neville and Ginny.

When the train arrived the members of Harry's compartment got off the train and walked towards the carriages. They heard Ron yell. "Oi! Midgets! Over here! OW!"

Hermione grinned as Ron jumped up and down holding his foot. "First years this way!"

Laughing uproariously Harry got into the carriage with his friends.

The carriages pulled up to the castle and Harry and his friends got out and walked up the steps to the great hall. Almost as soon as he walked in the door, he heard a stern voice call out his name. He knew that voice well and slowly turned around to face Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Potter, you will go see the headmaster now please. No Miss Weasley you do not need to go with him, Mr. Potter will be joining you in the great hall shortly. Now move along please." With that she marched away to attend to the first years. Harry waved and shrugged and walked towards the headmaster's office.

As Harry approached the gargoyle it occurred to him that he hadn't found out what the password was. Before he could give the matter any more thought, the gargoyle opened and allowed him to step on to the rotating staircase that led to Dumbledore's door. He held up his hand to knock, when he heard the headmaster call out, "Come in Harry." Shaking his head in amusement, Harry pushed open the door and then froze.

"I don't care what Malfoy has told you sir, but it's not true." Harry looked from Draco to his father, and then to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he gave Harry a small grin. "As a matter of fact Harry, mister Malfoy has not said a single word against you. You are not in trouble my boy, far from it actually. We are put in a very, intriguing situation this year Harry. It seems that a young wizard has come into his inheritance." At these words Harry's eyes opened in shock. _How did Dumbledore know about me already, if he had known about this before he should have bloody well told me._ Harry then noticed that all three men in the room were staring at him. He realized that he had been asked a question, but he had no idea what it was.

"What was that sir?" Harry asked sheepishly. He didn't want the Malfoys to have any of his weaknesses to take back to Voldemort.

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. Harry could tell that he was laughing inside. "I was just telling you that young mister Malfoy here has come into his Veela inheritance." Harry merely wondered what that had to do with him. Dumbledore continued, "I don't believe that you have covered Veela in Care of Magical Creatures, so let me explain why I am telling you this. When a veela comes of age, they begin to look for their mate. They can tell who their mate is by a special sense of smell that veela possess. Once they have found their mate they begin to court that mate so they can bond with them."

Harry listened to Dumbledore talk still wondering what this had to do with him, and then all at once he had a horrible realization. "No, No way. You have got to be kidding me. You can't expect me to believe that _I _am Malfoy's mate."

"Actually Harry, you are indeed mister Malfoy's mate."

Shaking his head in disbelief Harry said, "There has to be a mistake, sir. He has to find someone else."

"I am sorry Harry but that just isn't possible. Veela only have one true mate."

Lucius looked at Harry for the first time that night and drawled, "Potter, you do of course have the option of refusing to be bonded with my son. However, if you do not bond with Draco then you will watch him slowly waste away and die because that is what happens when a veela is unable to be bonded with his mate."

Harry sat in shock. His mind was at war with itself. _If I don't bond with Draco, he'll die. _You can't bond with Malfoy, he is your worse enemy. _But could I live with the fact that I killed him. _Would he do the same to save you? The other three men in the room just sat silently and watched the boy fight with himself. In the end Harry gave in to his 'saving people' part of the brain and turned to Dumbledore. "What do I have to do."

"You and mister Malfoy will be moved into a separate quarters, Until you actually become bonded, you will have separate rooms. Your room will have special wards on it to keep Mr. Malfoy out unless you invite him in." He paused at the curious look that Harry was giving him. "Sometimes veela can get a bit, eager, to become bonded with their mate. The wards will allow you a place to get away from him until the um, need leaves him. Do you agree to be bonded with Draco Malfoy?" This sounded formal, like a ritual was taking place.

Harry opened his mouth, and then closed it. "If I give this a try and it doesn't work out, will I have to continue with it?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Of course not, you are allowed out of this at any time."

Harry looked at the three men in the room one more time, he saw support, calculation, and longing. "Very well, I agree to be bonded with Draco Malfoy." _I wonder what I am getting myself into._

Dumbledore smiled, and both Malfoy men looked relieved.

After a moment, Dumbledore looked at both Malfoy's and said, "well now that that's settled I suggest you go join to the great hall and have a meal. The boys' luggage will be moved into their new quarters by the time dinner is finished. Harry a word if you don't mind?"

Lucius stood and ushered his son out of the room. Once the door was closed Dumbledore smiled at Harry and said, "Harry, now that you are Draco's mate, his life has become tied with yours. I think that by agreeing to do this you may have just turned one of Voldemort's biggest supporters to the light. I know that this is going to be a large change for you. I advise you to keep your friends close to you, but also give Draco a chance. You never know what lurks behind the face. I also want you to know that my door is always open to you, but I will not be here some of the time for reasons that I will tell you at a later date. For now, I suggest you to take this one day at a time." Harry nodded. "And now that you have heard me talk for a while let us go down to the great hall so you can hear me talk some more, shall we?" Harry smiled and together he and the headmaster left his office and went to the great hall and to dinner.

When they arrived at the great hall Harry made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat between Ron and Hermione. He smiled and said hello to all of the Gryffindors who said hi to him, and answered a lot of questions about how his summer was. Once people started focusing on their dinners again Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, "We have to talk later, you won't believe what just happened."

Hermione nodded and whispered back, "You won't believe what has just happened either. Do you know who the new DADA professor is?"

Harry scanned the staff table, his eyes stopped on a rather large little man sitting next to professor Sinistra and talking rather animatedly. "I suppose it's him then." He pointed at the new professor.

Hermione shook her head, "No he is Professor Slughorn, the new potions master."

Harry's eyes lit up with excitement and he smiled widely. Could this really mean that he wouldn't have to deal with Snape any longer? Then his smile slipped off his face. The greasy git was still there sitting next to Flitwick. He looked oddly happy about something.

Before he could ask Hermione anything else about what had happened, Professor Dumbledore stood up, the food vanished from the plates leaving them spotless (and causing a lot of the first years to 'ooh' and 'aah'), and held his arms wide to greet everyone. Harry then noticed that the Headmaster seemed to be wearing a black glove of some sorts. Before he could get a closer look however, Dumbledore put his arms back at his sides and began to address the students.

"Welcome back for another year at Hogwarts! To our new students we hope that the years that you spend here will be full of knowledge and fun. To our old hats," His eyes twinkled, "we can only hope for so much." Most of the older students laughed at this remark.

"We embark on another year of learning, but this one will be very different from any that you have had before. The dark lord Voldemort," almost all of the students gasped, "has made his return known to the world with the attack on the Ministry of Magic just before this summer began. Now that the wizarding world is alerted to his presence, he has been working hard to establish his reign of terror that he had the last time he was in power. I'm sure you have noticed that we are missing faces in this hall that were here last year? Many wizards are fleeing the country to protect themselves and their families.

"I want you all to know that you are safe behind these four walls, Hogwarts remains one of the safest places in all of magical Britain. I will however say this. If you leave these grounds, you may not be safe from outside dangers. I know that some of my students," his eyes flickered toward the Gryffindor table and Harry and Ron grinned at each other, "Have been a little well, lax in following that rule. I implore you all too please not leave the grounds for any reason. The staff and I are discussing visits to Hogsmeade right now. Rest assured that the school will remain as normal as possible this year.

"Now on to other things, we have two teachers to discuss. The first is a very old friend of mine. I would like to introduce Professor Horace Slughorn, who will be our new potions master." The great hall erupted in whispers. All of the students (except the Slytherins) were overjoyed that Snape would no longer be teaching them. Dumbledore cleared his throat and silence was gradually restored. "He then continued, and Defense against the Dark Arts will be taught by none other then our very own Professor Snape." There was a moment of silence at this remark and then the Slytherins began to clap and cheer loudly. "I trust both teachers will do their jobs well, and that the students will respect them as they would all of their teachers.

"Finally, I would like to remind all students that the forbidden forest remains off limits to all students, and that a list of banned items can be found on Mr. Filch's door. Now it's late and you must all want to go to bed, but before you leave let us sing the school song!"

The staff groaned, the older students groaned, the new students look puzzled, and Dumbledore beamed at them all. He flicked his wand and the words appeared before them all. "Now pick your favorite tune and off we go!"

And with that the staff and student body was off.

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something, please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot. _

The best description of what the school song sounded like was a cat giving birth to a hippogriff. Everyone finished at different times, everyone sang in different keys. Harry and Ron tried to sing the entire song just a half step apart, it was wonderfully dissonant. When everyone had finished, Dumbledore smiled at everyone again. "Ah music, how uplifting, now off to bed."

Hermione and Ron began to call the first years to them, and led them off toward the tower. Harry watched his friends leave and then walked up to the staff table. He approached Dumbledore and asked, "excuse me sir, but where am I living now?"

"Oh yes, Harry, if you will allow me, I will walk you there now." Harry nodded in agreement and followed the headmaster out of the great hall. "Your new rooms are on the forth floor. They are rather close to the library, and of equal distance between the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms. I think you will be quite comfortable in these rooms." In the time that they had talked, they had climbed the stairs and were walking past the library.

They continued down the hallway until they found a narrow corridor leading away they turned down it, and then Harry suddenly realized where they were. "This is where I found the Mirror of Erised!"

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, I was wondering if you would notice that. This is indeed where you found the Mirror in your first year. The room has been very much enlarged, and there is now a portrait guarding your doorway."

They approached the painting and Harry saw that it was a young witch in the frame. She looked up. "Password"

Dumbledore stepped forward and said, "A lion and a snake." The portrait swung forward and Harry gasped at the rooms he now occupied.

The portrait opened up to a sitting room. In the middle there were two couches, and a low table in front of a large fireplace. On one side of the room there was a large work table and a few chairs. On the other there were a couple of large bookcases and two armchairs. The walls of the room were a deep red. And the furniture was a cream color. Two doors led out of this room, Dumbledore led Harry to the one closest to the bookcases and opened it. Inside was a massive four poster bed and a large mahogany wardrobe. A door the led off of this room led to his personal bathroom in which the most impressive feature was a rather large and deep bathtub. Harry looked at the headmaster and said, "This is amazing sir. How can I thank you enough?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "There will be no thanks needed, Harry. You have been through enough in the past four years to deserve a little luxury. I will now leave you to unpack. Enjoy your evening, I shall show myself out." With a small nod he walked out of the room leaving Harry alone.

Harry looked around the bedroom again. This room was painted an off white. The bedspread and hangings were the same deep red as the sitting room. He then walked out into the sitting room again and looked at the bookcases. He didn't hear the other door in the room open, nor did he notice Draco enter the main room and walk towards him. Only when he was a few feet away and he cleared his throat did Harry whip around and stare at him. His eyes narrowed. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Please call me Draco now Harry. We are mates now, aren't we?"

"I don't know what you expected from this _Draco,_" Harry said his tone dripping with sarcasm when he used his mate's name, "but if my memory serves me right we don't get along to put things nicely. Now I am with you right now because I don't think even you deserve to die because you can't be with someone, but you honestly can't have believed that we would just become best friends the moment I heard that I was destined to be with you forever. Now I would really appreciate it if we could just stay out of each others way for now until we get used to this. Goodnight _Dear._" And with that Harry marched into his room and slammed the door, leaving a very hurt Draco staring after him.

A single tear dripped from Draco's eye. How stupid had he been to make an enemy of such an amazing person. He would prove to Harry that he was not the stupid spoiled git that had met him in the Robe shop. His will hardened with resolve and he marched into his room. Tomorrow he would show the Boy-Who-Lived who the real Draco Malfoy was.

**A/N: So there's chapter two. Let me know what you think. Thanks to those who reviewed and to my friend J for reading my story over to make sure I didn't screw up the english language to badly. **


	3. Reactions

**((Still don't own HP...))**

**Later that night:**

Ron and Hermione had led the first years to the common room and given them the new password (Glumbumble) and then gone up to their rooms. As soon as Ron walked into the 6th year dormitory he knew something was wrong. There were only four beds in the room. Harry had been worried about what to do when he had to remove the glamour at night, but they had never thought that he would be moved out of their dormitory. _I mean where would they put him _Ron thought. _Its not like we have apartments just hanging around the castle. And Harry would have just told Dumbledore tonight, this seems awful fast. _He sat down on the edge of his bed for a moment, but then he stood up and walked back down to the common room. He wanted to ask Hermione what she thought about this, and he wanted to know where Harry was. _And I don't want to be the one to explain why Harry isn't rooming with us this year._

Hermione found Ron in the common room around a half an hour later. As soon as Ron saw her, he jumped to his feet and walked over to her. Hermione could tell by the look in his eyes that something was wrong. She grabbed his arm and led him over to a secluded corner of the common room. "Ron, what's wrong? Where is Harry?"

Ron shook his head, "That's whats wrong 'Mione, I don't know where Harry is. His bed is gone from our dormitory."

Hermione's jaw fell open. Her mind began to whirr trying to figure out any and all possible reasons why Harry wasn't where he should be. "Well, there are a couple of logical reasons. Well no, I guess there is just one logical reason. Harry told Dumbledore and Dumbledore decided it would be better for Harry if he didn't live in the dormitory. But then the question is where is Harry now? And Harry had to go see Dumbledore as soon as we got here, but why would he have needed to see Harry then, unless of course he somehow knew of Harry's inheritance. But I don't see how –"

Ron put his hand over Hermione's mouth. "OK, Hermione, I think all that you have just done is give me a pretty massive headache. The only important thing right now is where is Harry, right?"

Hermione thought for a moment, just when she was about to go into another idea filled speech Ron looked at her with his eyebrow raised. Hermione closed her mouth and simply nodded. "Right, so where do we look first?"

Just as they were standing up to leave the common room Ginny walked up to them. "Hey Ron, Hi Hermione, have you seen Harry? He went up to talk to Dumbledore after the feast and I haven't seen him since."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look that said, _Better not tell everyone yet. _Ron smiled at his younger sister and said, "Well I bet he is just talking to Dumbledore and will be back –"

As Ron was speaking Neville appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the boys dormitories and shouted, 'Where have they taken Harry's stuff?' The common room exploded into chaos. Everyone began to yell and after a moment all eyes turned toward Ron and Hermione.

Ron's entire face turned scarlet, he looked down at the floor instead of looking at the fifty pairs of eyes that were staring at him confused or Ginny, who was glaring at him like he had just told her that Christmas was cancelled. "- Soon?"

Hermione was nervous too, she could tell that unless one of them did something soon the room would erupt again. She grabbed Ron's hand and started pulling him toward the portrait hole. Just before they left she looked back at the room and said, "Ron and I are going to see Professor Dumbledore right now about this problem." She was so nervous that her voice squeaked when she said Dumbledore. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Please stay in the common room and we will be back shortly." With that she turned and pulled Ron out of the common room with her.

Ginny stared at the back of the fat lady's painting. She was very angry for two reasons; one, she couldn't believe that Ron had lied to her about Harry, and second and more important than the first, _where in bloody hell was Harry. _She was half tempted to march right out of the common room and if she had to walk all the way to Dumbledore's office and get Harry's whereabouts from him then so be it. The only thing that kept her where she was standing was the thought of the howler that her mum would send when she got a month worth of detentions for wandering around the castle after hours, cursing a prefect which would happen if she ran into Ron righr now. No it would be much better to wait for them to get back, besides, once he was back in the common room there were much less hiding places…

Ron and Hermione hurried away from the Gryffindor Tower. They kept their eyes peeled and their ears open for any sight or sound of Harry, or of anyone else for that matter. They were having a whispered argument. Ron wanted to head straight to the dungeons and go Slytherin hunting, because who else would cause Harry to dissapear but a stupid snake. Hermione wanted to go to Dumbledore and ask him. In the end Hermione's Logic won out. They hurried towards Dumbledore's office. When they got to the gargoyle they stopped and looked at each other. How could they expect to go see Dumbledore if they didn't know the password? Ron turned and started for the dungeons, but Hermione grabbed his arm, and turned to the gargoyle and said, "Please, I don't know if you are able, but could you let Dumbledore know that we are here?"

The gargoyle continued to sit in silence. Just as Hermione had turned to let Ron go and follow him the gargoyle jumped aside and there right behind it stood professor Dumbledore. "Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, why don't you come up to my office."

They stepped on the moving staircase and followed Dumbledore up to his office. Once inside the headmaster sat down and motioned for Ron and Hermione to do the same. As Hermione opened up her mouth to begin speaking, Dumbledore raised a hand. "I know that you are here because of Harry's rooming change, I just want to assure you that he is alright and –"

"Please sir," said Ron, "We know that Harry is different now, but that shouldn't keep him from living in the dormitory with us should it?"

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, trying to not let his eyes show that he had absolutely no idea what Ron was talking about. He raised his eyebrow. "Different," he said mildly, "Why Harry looked to be the same when he was in my office tonight." Dumbledore paused and thought back to earlier when the boy was in his office. "Well he appeared to have grown a couple of inches over the summer, but other than that…" He trailed off. "I believe that you have come here for an entirely different reason then I thought. Please explain what you mean about Harry being different."

"But sir, if you don't know what we are talking about, then why would Harry have to leave the dormitory?"

Dumbledore looked over at Hermione, "It would seem to me that we both seem to have something to tell the other concerning Harry. I believe that I will allow you to go first if you don't mind."

Hermione and Ron looked at one another and then back at Dumbledore. Hermione sat forward in her chair and began to tell the story as if she was in class answering a teacher's question. She told Dumbledore how Harry had come into his inheritance, how she believed that he was part Maillochefée, and how she had helped him learn a little about his 'changes'.

After Hermione had finished speaking the room fell into silence. Dumbledore for once in his life had been taken completely by surprise. None of the Potter's had ever mentioned anything to him about them having Maillochefée blood, and they would certainly have mentioned it if they had it. So how on earth could the boy have come by it? He was going to have to do some sorting through this and find an answer.

Ron watched Dumbledore's face as Hermione told the story. Dumbledore had apparently no idea that Harry was not entirely human. Minutes passed in silence. Dumbledore had apparently forgotten that he and Hermione were still in the room. Ron cleared his throat causing the headmaster to blink twice and notice that they were still here. "About Harry sir?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, well I think that it would be better for you to hear the news from Harry himself. Tomorrow morning an owl will arrive to the common room with directions to Harry's new rooms. I know that you want to see him tonight, but I believe that the best thing for him right now is sleep. I think that I should recommend the same thing for yourselves."

Hermione and Ron stood up, knowing that this was Dumbledore's way of kicking them out, and left the headmaster's office. Hermione was a little shocked, for the first time, Dumbledore had not made things better, in fact he had done absolutely nothing for them. Ron towed her back to the common room. Inside there were still a large number of people who appeared to be waiting for an answer. Ron shook his head and said, "No answers til the morning, but Harry is fine. Now get to bed you lot." He turned and looked at Hermione, "You too, I want to leave early tomorrow so we can get to Harry."

Hermione nodded and the two of them walked up the stairs and to their rooms.

As Hermione lay down on her bed and began to drift to sleep, she heard Parvati and Lavender whispering to each other. The talk on everyone's lips was Harry, Harry, and more Harry. _This could possibly be the worst start of term yet, _She thought. _Oh Harry, where are you?_

**((A/N: Sorry it's been so long... I am going to try and have it not be another year before the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews!))**


	4. White Flag

**The Next Morning**

Harry slowly began to wake up. He rolled on to his side and kept his eyes tightly shut. _Maybe it was all a dream, and when I open my eyes I'll be back at Aunt Petunia's and it will be my birthday. _But he already knew that he wasn't back at Privet Drive, because the bed he was sleeping on was nothing like the lumpy uneven mattress that he wasn't at his Aunt's and then there were the wings that he was still getting used to sleeping on... _Ok, well, maybe its still summer and I am at the leaky cauldron… _Even as he thought that he knew it was not true. He sighed and opened his eyes, yesterday had happened. Because of his stupid 'saving people thing' he was being courted by Draco Malfoy. He wasn't able to live in Gryffindor Tower anymore because he had to be _close_ to Malfoy. Harry shook his head and snorted, close to his biggest enemy at school. _This has got to be some big joke, but why would Dumbledore be a part of this? _Harry knew that Dumbledore wouldn't do this to him as a joke, and that if this was dangerous for him that Dumbledore would never have asked him to do this. So now Harry had to do something that would probably be the hardest thing that he has done since he joined the wizarding world… give Malfoy a second chance. There was something else important to consider, Harry had pushed it to the back of his mind when he had found out about it. If he was going to be bonded to Malfoy for life, that bond was sure to have certain… physical obligations. He had never even thought of other men in that way. He tried to picture what it would be like to love a man in his head and to his surprise he wasn't repulsed. In fact, it almost made sense to him. _Love is love, _he decided, _and if I can fall in love with Malfoy, or if not him than with any man, then it will be ok. _Now that he was sure that he could _love _a man he tried to think about the other aspects and then closed his eyes and shook his head, _I am not ready for _that _yet, by any means. _

His head was so full with so many different thoughts that he thought about just going back to bed, but then he remembered that no one knew where he was. Harry jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to get cleaned up. He pulled his wings in, performed the glamour charm that made him look like normal Harry, and then dashed out of his bedroom; right past Draco, who was sitting on one of the couches with a couple of plates of food, and out the portrait hole. He got to the end of the corridor that his new room opened off of, and was just about to whip around the corner and head to the Gryffindor common room, when he ran right into Ron. They both fell backwards on the floor. Harry jumped up and pulled Ron to his feet. "Ron, I am so sorry. I was just coming to find you!"

Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. "Oh Harry, we were so worried about you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah Hermione, I have so much to tell you both. How did you know where to find me?"

"We went to see Dumbledore last night mate. We wanted to know where you were and that you were…" Ron trailed off. He and Hermione were both staring behind Harry.

Harry whipped around and found that Draco was standing not five feet from them. He had a worried look on his face. "Are you alright Harry? You ran out really fast and I was worried."

Harry looked uncomfortable; he shifted from one foot to the other. "Oh yeah… well, eh… I'd forgotten that no one other then Dumbledore knew where I was so I was going to find Ron and Hermione to let them know what was going on."

Draco nodded, "Well, I had the house elves send us some breakfast. I thought we could… talk or something…"

"Oh… yeah, talk. Er, that is a good idea Mal- Draco."

Ron shook his head. "What are you saying Harry? We don't talk to Malfoy any more then he talks to us. Isn't that right Hermione?"

Hermione stood there in silence, looking back and forth between Harry and Draco. Suddenly it all clicked into place. "Oh no Harry! It can't be…"

Ron looked puzzled. "What can't be?"

Harry sighed and nodded. "Well it is."

"What is?" Ron exclaimed.

"Why does it always happen to you?" Hermione asked.

Ron stepped into the middle of the group and held his hands out. "What always happens to Harry? Someone tell me something!"

Draco smirked. He crossed his arms and said with some amusement, "What Granger has just realized is that I have found my mate."

Ron dropped his arms. "So? What does that have to do with Harry?" Draco looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow. Ron looked from Draco to Harry and back again and then started laughing. "OK, OK. Fred? George? Come out you lot, well whichever one of you is not pretending to be Malfoy right now… You know this was a really good prank." He turned to Harry, "Come on mate, let's go back to the common room eh?"

Harry shook his head. "It's the truth Ron…"

Ron started to slowly back away shaking his head. "No, NO! It can't be! Don't you see what this is Harry? You-Know-Who's second in command's son suddenly finds out that you are his soul mate; it is way too convenient."

Draco's eyes hardened and he sneered at Ron. "Convenient?" He snapped, "Do you honestly think that I could lie about this Weasley? I know that you aren't the straightest wand in the stack, but you should at least know _something _about this considering there used to be some Veela blood in _your _family… Too bad you thinned it out too much mating with all of those mudbloods."

Harry and Hermione's heads both snapped towards Draco on the word 'mudblood.' Draco kicked himself. _Man, first day and I am already screwing up… I guess that is one word that can no longer be a part of my vocabulary. I had better try and fix this… _"I am sorry for the use of that word Harry. I know how it upsets you."

Harry raised an eyebrow, _first test on whether or not this can work, _he thought. "It isn't me that you should be apologizing to Draco."

Draco's eyes opened wide, and his breath caught in his chest. Harry had said his name without any hesitation. To Draco that meant that Harry was giving him a chance to prove himself. He realized that if he wanted Harry, he was going to have to take these two as well. _Who would have ever thought that I'd be friends with a weasel?_ "You're right Harry I am very sorry Grang- _Hermione. _I hope that you can forgive me."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's mouths all fell open when Draco apologized to Hermione, and called her by her first name. Ron began to rub his forehead. "Oh Merlin," he moaned, "This is all way to weird. I need to sit down."

Harry opened his mouth but before he could speak Draco said, "Why don't you both come to our new rooms, I am sure that you will be visiting often."

Harry looked confused and then closed his mouth and nodded. "Er, yeah. Come and see where I'll be living this term."

As they turned to head back down the hallway Ron and Hermione fell a few steps behind. "Do you think that Harry has told Draco about his inheritance?" Hermione muttered to Ron.

Draco's ears had become a touch more sensitive than human ears since his inheritance and he heard Hermione's muttered comment to Ron. His ears perked up and he listened intently for what Ron was going to say. What was Harry keeping from him, and why didn't he trust him enough to tell him? _Probably because you have been enemies for the last five and a half years but that's just a guess,_ sneered his inner voice. Draco sighed, if he hadn't been such a prat, then he and Harry could have been friends this whole time and Harry would have been delighted to be his mate. At least he hoped Harry would have, but then again he didn't even know if Harry preferred men or women. What if Harry could never love him just because he doesn't love men? Draco shuddered. By now they had reached the painting of the young witch with the red hair and had given her the password, and then they were in the common room. Harry took them into his room to show them around and Draco realized that he had gotten so caught up in worrying about the future that he had forgotten to listen to what Ron and Hermione said about Harry. _Damn it, Damn it, Damn it! I'll have to ask Harry about it soon. Maybe he will tell me._

Harry Ron and Hermione walked back into the common room where Draco was sitting on one of the couches. The three of them went to sit on the one across from him. Draco looked like he was in pain for a second when Harry didn't sit next to him and with a sigh he got up and went to sit next to him. Draco, in his continued attempt to impress Harry and make friends with his friends said, "I only had the house elves send up enough food for the two of us, but shall I ring for more?"

"Eh, sure I guess, thanks Malfoy." The words from Ron's mouth sounded strange, but to all four of the people in the room this was a very strange occurrence.

The four of them sat talking for a couple hours. Draco chose to remain silent most of the time; content to just be near his mate, and he didn't really trust himself to not say something that could get him into trouble with Harry… _Ron says the stupidest things, _Draco thought. When they had run out of things to say Ron and Hermione stood up reluctantly. Harry stood up with them, "Tell everyone that I am alright and that I will come by and visit tomorrow OK? And probably don't tell them why I am not living there yet…"

Hermione rushed over and hugged him. Ron hesitated and then did the same. "Take care mate."

Harry laughed, "You are treating this like I live two hours away from you, don't. You know where I live."

"And you know where the common room is. The password is…" Ron trailed off.

"Oh Ron, it isn't like Draco is going to tell all the Slytherins the password. Its glumbumble Harry, we'll see you soon ok?"

Harry nodded. "Tomorrow will come quickly I promise," he said as he walked them to the portrait hole. After Ron and Hermione left Harry turned around to face Draco. "Thank you Draco."

Draco shivered when Harry said his name again and then looked puzzled, "For what?"

"For treating my friends that way. I know you don't like us…"

Draco shook his head. "I _didn't_ like you, but now I can't see my world without you in it. Funny huh?"

Harry nodded. "Hilarious. Well I decided that if you can be civil to my friend then I can be civil to you and yours." He paused and thought for a moment, "Tomorrow when I am done visiting the Gryffindors why don't you introduce me to a couple of your friends?"

Draco smiled widely. "That would be amazing Harry. I really want you to like them."

"No promises… but we'll see what happens." Harry began to walk towards his bedroom. "Oh and tomorrow evening maybe we can talk a little bit, get to know each other. Unless you are a spoiled snob who buys anything he wants then I have a lot to learn."

Draco's eyes narrowed for a second. "And if it wouldn't harm me to harm you for making fun of me like that, then I would probably curse you right now."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Malfoy, take a joke. Otherwise this will be a long engagement." With that Harry turned and disappeared into his room.

Draco's eyes sparkled. _He is sarcastic and funny. And not so submissive that it will drive me mad. _Calling him a submissive, even in his mind caused certain areas of his anatomy to tighten. Draco got up and walked over to Harry's door. He reached out for the handle and his hand was stopped an inch from it. He strained, trying to get closer to his mate, but he couldn't budge closer to the door. At first he was angry, and then he slumped down. _No Draco, breaking into Harry's room and violating him right now would probably not be the best idea right now. _But it would be amazing… and Harry would like it too! _Yeah… or you would hurt him and he would walk away forever. _At that thought Draco backed away from the door like it had become electrified. No, he had to do this right. He _would _do this right. With that thought in mind he went into his own room, to _take care of some business_ and then wait for tomorrow when he would see the boy he loved again.


	5. Hey, Jealousy

**((A/N/ Believe it or not even though it is 2 years later... I _still_ don't own Harry Potter))**

**The Malfoy Manor**

Lucius paced back and forth in front of the fire place with a letter from Dumbledore clutched in his hands. _Gods what a position this has put the family in! _He looked again at the letter.

_Lucius,_

_I am sure that you expected to be in this place no more than I, but it would appear that you and I are now on the path to being allies…_

That word made him stop. Allies? With Dumbledore? This went against everything that he had been working for in the last twenty years. He wanted a pure magical world, didn't he? This was so frustrating! His whole life he had been taught by his father, and then by Voldemort that in order for wizards to remain in power they pure bloodlines must be preserved. He remembered the lengths to which his own family would stretch to in order to make that happen.

/Flashback\\

Lucius was a boy of ten again at play with his cousin Violetta, a girl of sixteen who had recently come into her inheritance. Often she would leave the manor for several days during the summer and go off looking for her was his only Malfoy cousin, and thus his favorite (Although breeding Veela into the family makes the blood stronger, it also makes it harder to conceive after the first child.) so he was always lonely when she went off searching. One evening as the family was seated at the dinner table. The doors burst open and there was Violetta with the strangest looking boy Lucius had ever seen. He wasn't wearing robes and looked entirely too amazed to be in the Manor than any wizard should be. His Father, Abraxas, looked stood up and walked over to Violetta and her strange guest by the door. Lucius listened as Violetta told Abraxas that the boy was her mate. He was a Hufflepuff, a Prefect, and was muggle born. A hush fell over the room. Abraxas Malfoy's face, which was always rather pale, looked like pure alabaster as he calmly walked over to the mantle, picked up a trinket and presented it to the boy. Violetta's face looked so relieved until suddenly with a flash of blue light, her mate disappeared.

"Grandfather, how _could _you?"

Abraxas Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "The real question child, is how could _you_ bring such filth into our family's noble home."

Violetta's eyes filled with tears as she grabbed for her grandfathers arm which he wrenched away. "Where have you sent him?"

Abraxas strolled back toward the table and sat down. "I don't recall," he drawled, "perhaps someplace very hot, or very cold. Was it wet or dry where that portkey went… I suppose we shall never know."

Lucius watched his cousin's tears streaming down her face as she turned and ran from the room. That was the last time he ever saw her… Later that evening as his mother put him to bed he recalled her saying that she hoped that if he came into _his_ inheritance, she hoped that the gods saw fit to give him a better mate.

The Malfoys never spoke of his cousin in public, and when he finally asked his mother what had become of her she said, "We can only hope that she has found him and they are living in hiding somewhere in the world, because if she doesn't find him, she will waste away into nothing."

/End Flashback\\

Lucius stared blankly at the parchment in his hand, _The gods must have a reason for giving Potter to my son… _

His thoughts were rudely cut off by the arrival of another owl. He opened the letter and read.

_My most faithful Lucius,_

_It is my newfound understanding that your family has made a great step towards the eradication of the most troublesome wizard of the moment. You must lure Harry Potter into your clutches and deliver him to me. _

_As to the reason that I did not receive this most wonderful news from you, I am sure you can explain when you are next summoned to my side. _

_Your orders for now are to become as close to the Potter boy as possible, send the boys gifts and begin to extend invitations to them to come spend the winter holiday at your home. The boy, and indeed that oaf Dumbledore must not suspect a thing. Do anything and everything necessary to earn their trust. _

_I will have a very special place of honor for your family and especially your son as soon as this ordeal is over. Do Not Disappoint Me Again._

The note was not signed, but Voldemort never felt the need to sign his letters. Was this the reason that Harry Potter was basically handed upon a silver platter to his son? Was this as cruel a jest as when Violetta brought home a mudblood as her mate? He _was_ lucky that the gods had given him Narcissa, but would he act as his father had and then watch his only son waste away because of it… Lucius looked from letter to letter clutched in his hands, and with a sigh of frustration he set them both down and began to write a letter of his own.

**At Hogwarts**

Classes had begun. Draco grew tense with anxiety during each of the classes that the had apart. Harry was bombarded with questions about how he could be living with a Slytherin and Seamus was completely lost by the fact that Harry was betrothed to a man. He didn't know how to answer most of the questions they asked him so for the most part he just blushed and stayed silent. Parvati asked if the ring he wore was a gift from Draco. Lavender asked what Draco looked like without a shirt on. Ron told them all to lay off of Harry, and Hermione patted him on the shoulder and told him it would be alright.

"I think I would rather face Quirrel again than deal with all of this," Harry muttered as he, Ron, and Hermione walked towards potions.

Ron snorted and said, "Quirrel, I would go toe to toe with the basilisk if we could just go back to normal around here… although with you Harry, nothing is ever normal."

Hermione grinned, "One good thing that has come out of this is that it has given me a reason to research some wizarding genealogy," her voice dropped to a whisper' "I haven't found any of the special blood that _you_ have Harry… nowhere in the Potter line have I found any reference to magical crossbreeding."

"Well it could have been Harry's mum then, couldn't it?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Please Ron, what mystical fairy would have bred with a muggle?"

Ron muttered something about 'maybe it was a very attractive muggle… or a rather dim fairy.' They laughed and continued into the dungeons. Right outside the potions classroom, Pansy Parkinson was waiting for Harry.

"A quick word, Potter?" She asked.

Ron and Hermione stopped and glanced back at Harry, who motioned for them to go into the classroom. Harry hoped that she was going to be the first of many Slytherins that would become an acquaintance if not eventually a friend. He gave he a small grin which faded as he noticed the way she was staring at him. "What is on your mind Pansy?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Listen Potter, you may not know this, but I have been working towards being the next Lady Malfoy since I was eleven. I will not allow you to stand in my way. Do you understand me?"

"Listen Pansy, first of all, I didn't ask for any of this, and you can be sure that I would not have agreed to this if Draco wouldn't have died if I said no. Second of all, Even if I had never been born, you would not be the next Lady Malfoy because Draco has way better taste than that. Hermione was telling me that a lot of the old wizarding families crossbred with magical creatures… did your family try with a pug?" Harry turned his back on her and began to walk into the dungeon when he heard a wand behind him. He was just about to dive for cover when he heard a scream and whipped around to see Pansy crumple to the floor in a heap. He was then grabbed and pushed behind Draco who still had his wand pointed at Pansy's prone form.

"Harry I don't think it was a pug, I think it was a slug that the Parkinson's bred with." Draco walked towards Pansy, "The next time you point a wand at my mate, I wont just stun you, and that is a promise." He turned and walked back toward Harry and grabbed his hand. "Harry, please come and meet some Slytherins that are worth your time," he paused and then turned toward Ron and Hermione, "why don't the two of you come as well. Hopefully all of us will be spending a lot more time together."

**Later that day**

Harry sat in the Gryffindor Locker Room at the quidditch pitch. He was getting ready to hold tryouts for new players. It was going to be a very young team this year, with only Ron, Katie, and himself remaining. He shook his head, it was going to be hard to replace Angelina, and even harder to replace Fred and George. Naturally there was a huge turn out for the try outs and he spent the first part of it weeding out the hopefuls from the hopeless. Finally he began to try players for positions, he would make up a team of chasers and have them try and score on Ron while pairs of beaters tried to stop them. In the end he had worked up a new line up of Ginny (who did excellent as the seeker when Harry was banned) Dean Thomas, and Katie as chasers, a new pair of beaters by the name of Coote and Peakes, and Ron barely scraped his way back into his role of Keeper. There were enough talented players (and enough bad luck where Harry was concerned) that he was able to field a small reserve team as well. He had rather high hopes that with some work the Gryffindor team could be amazing this year. He took of his shirt and was just unbuttoning his pants when he heard footsteps behind him. He buttoned his pants and whirled around, and then let out a breath as it was just Ginny, who had already finished changing.

She took a few steps closer to Harry and then sat down on the bench next to where he was standing. "Hello Harry."

Harry grinned at her and sat down next to her, " 'Lo Ginny, great job out there tonight." He pulled on his sweater, "Think we will have a good team this year don't you? I was really surprised by…"

His words were cut off as Ginny lunged over and covered his lips with hers. Harry's eyes snapped open and he gently but firmly pushed Ginny off of him. Ginny looked at him with an incredulous look in her eyes. "But, Harry… You must want to be with me more than that stupid snake."

Harry looked at the girl who had a crush on him since the moment she saw him, he thought of all of the fun they had together. "Ginny," he began, "you would have been the logical choice for me… but it would appear that at the moment I don't have a choice at all. For now know that I love you like a sister and always want you to be close to me, but the closeness is limited to friendship. In the few days that I have been with Draco he has proven to me that he is not the selfish, spoiled prat that I knew from my first year. I have to give this as much of a chance as I can, and the weird thing is," he paused and grinned, "I sort of _want_ to give it a chance."

Ginny's eyes filled with tears and she shook her head angrily, "but you are both _men!_ You can't possibly love a man, Harry. What about children?"

Harry shook his head sadly, "I guess we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it. I really ought to get back, I will see you later Gin." He leaned down and gave her a quick hug before leaving the locker room.

Ginny sat there staring blankly ahead. _This cannot be happening! How could he want to be with Draco Malfoy instead of me? Harry will be mine, he was going to be mine since I was ten and it _will_ happen! _She stood up and angrily marched out of the locker room and back to the Common Room to plot.

**Draco and Harry's Rooms**

Harry rushed past the painting of the red haired girl into his new rooms and found Draco sitting on one of the couches by the fire with a far off look in his eyes. He walked towards him and sat down on the couch next to him. "Draco," he said, "what's the matter?"

Draco glanced up at him and then looked down again. "I am sorry you are stuck with me Harry, If you wish I will tell Dumbledore that this is not working and he can have you moved back into the Gryffindor Tower."

Harry's eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. "Move, but Draco, you and your father said if we weren't near each other than you would waste away and die…"

Draco nodded, "It is true. If the stakes were reversed, I don't know what I would do in your place…" he smirked briefly and then frowned again, "well actually I do know what I would do." He paused and looked up to meet Harry's eyes, "I would have been happy to watch you waste away because I despised you for so many reasons. You were everyone's golden boy, even my father couldn't go a week without talking about you… it was all about how to get rid of you, but still. The crazy thing is, even as much as I hated you, now I would rather waste away and die rather than have you hate being here with me."

Harry reached out and put his hand on Draco's arm, "Why do you think I hate it here?"

Draco quoted, "You can be sure that I would not have agreed to this if Draco wouldn't have died if I said no… is that proof enough?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Draco, I am so sorry. I did do this so you didn't die, but every day spent with you I realize that you are not the same person I used to hate. You can understand why I still feel a little trapped though can't you? It's only been a week."

Draco shook his head, "To be honest Harry, I can't understand it, but it is because you have become the most important person in the world to me." He leaned over towards Harry, "I love…" his nostrils flared and his eyes darkened. "Who have you been _kissing?_"

Harry leaned away from him, frightened of that look in his eyes. "Draco, I didn't kiss anyone." He paused and blushed, "Ginny kissed me, but I told her that I just wanted to be friends and that I was going to see this through with you." He hesitantly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Draco in a hug. "It is all going to work out Draco, it will just take time."

Draco felt himself relaxing into his mate. He wouldn't forget that Ginny Weasley was after his mate and would be more vigilant of those around him, but for now he was content to just be in Harry's arms. Suddenly he felt his Veela urges taking over and he gasped out, "Harry, Go. To. Your. Room… NOW!" It took every bit of self control to push him away and not leap after him and take him there.

Harry ran into his room but left the door open. He leaned against the door so that he could see Draco who walked over and sat down on the other side of the door frame. Draco's eyes had changed into the veela eyes, just pools of liquid silver without pupils. Harry was frightened and at the same time slightly turned on by the way his mate looked. _If I just step through the doorway, _he thought, _no… I don't want it to be this way for the first time, it should be more magical._ He pulled his knees to his chest and smiled at his mate. "Draco," he said, "thanks."

Draco separated from his mate by a magical barrier, struggled to control his urges. he blinked his eyes several times until they reverted to their normal state, and grinned at Harry, "Next time be careful when you initiate contact. I will do my best to fight off the urges, but you may want to warn me before you do anything physical with me." He waited for Harry to nod before he continued, "One more thing Harry, I, er, happened to overhear Ron and Hermione talking about an inheritance that you came into… and, er, I was wondering if you might be willing to let me in on the secret."

Harry sat silently for a minute. _He is my mate, and I should trust him and tell him._ He waited for the 'but' in his thoughts, however it didn't come. He stood up and looked at Draco, "Don't freak out, but I am not one hundred percent human myself," he grabbed the glamour ring on his finger and pulled it off and allowed his wings to appear. "I hope you don't think that I am a freak now," he said, unwilling to look at Draco.

After a few minutes of silence, Harry looked up to see Draco standing on the other side of his door and staring at him with a queer look on his face. "You do think I am a freak don't you?"

Draco blinked twice and then shook his head as if to clear it. "Freak? The only way I would use the word freak in the same sentence as you would be to say, 'my mate is freakishly beautiful'. Harry, _what are you?_"

Harry laughed with tears in his eyes. "Maillochefée."

Draco sat down again on the ground outside of Harry's door. "I didn't know the Potter's had crossed with magical creatures before…"

"I hadn't either," Harry replied.

"I will ask mother to look into it. She keeps a detailed record of all of the old families and their magical crossings." He smiled at Harry and said, "Thank you for trusting me." Harry smiled and nodded and Draco stood up to head to his own room, "Oh, and one other thing, please when we are alone in the rooms together will you remove the glamour and let me see my mate as he truly is?"

Harry grinned and nodded, "I guess that is ok, but please don't let anyone else know about it yet?"

Draco snorted, "As if I would give _anyone_ another reason to try and take you from me," he paused and turned back to his own room, "Goodnight Harry, pleasant dreams."

Harry watched his mate cross their common space and head into his own was a lot he had to think about that night as he went to bed, and for the first time as he dreamt, it was about him and Draco.

**((I will try and not keep you waiting for years again this time, not that I am done with school I may have more time and ambition to write fan fic. I also am working on a twilight/vampire-esque thing right now and co-writing another story that is not anything more than happy love romantic fluff... those will probably be up on my blog along with the rest of this story... ENJOY!))**


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